-Live Mint UPA govt hasn't succeeded in improving learning outcomes in India's schools, says the report New Delhi: Despite levying a tax to fund education and enacting a law to ensure access to education for all children between the ages of 6 and 14, the government hasn't succeeded in improving learning outcomes in India's schools, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) published on Wednesday. The quality of learning-as measured...

-Deccan Herald In the past seven years around 3.2 crore farmers have abandoned farming and taken up menial jobs in the cities. At a time when change is the buzzword on the political landscape, when cities are changing, and the villages are no longer what they used to be; when incomes are rising for an educated few, and when the bottom of the pyramid - those below the poverty line -- are...

-The New Indian Express   Most people would have been shocked to read the year-end report that India has been ranked 63rd, much below countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, on the Global Hunger Index (GHI), a yardstick used by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to comprehensively measure global hunger. The index is calculated as an average of three indices-undernourishment, underweight children and low child mortality rate-and is measured on a...

-The Hindu Scheme will be extended to all taluk hospitals: Minister THIRUVANANTHAPURAM (Kerala): The Planning Commission has recognised the palliative care programme being implemented in the State under Arogyakeralam as one among the best healthcare schemes in the country, Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar has said. In a statement here, Mr. Sivakumar said that the palliative care scheme, being implemented in 736 local bodies in the State, would be extended to all taluk hospitals. Thiruvananthapuram...

-The Business Standard Plan panel may skip annual meet with CMs in view of polls With general elections only a few months away, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia might skip the customary one-to-one meetings with some chief ministers, while finalising the annual Plans for states, for 2014-15. According to a senior official, chief ministers usually avoid coming personally to discuss their annual plan ahead of a general election. The commission has...